The ferries serving Mackinac Island say they have to cease service in 2027 because of what the company described as the city’s refusal to negotiate a new contract.
The city of Mackinac Island confirmed that Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry and Arnold Transit Co. sent letters last week notifying officials that they “reserve the right to cease operations for the 2027 season.”
Both ferry lines are owned by Hoffmann Marine, a division of the Hoffmann Family of Companies.
In an emailed statement, Erin Evashevski, attorney for the city, said she was “disappointed but unfortunately not surprised” by the near-identical letters.
“This is exactly what the City of Mackinac Island feared would happen when all the boats and docks became owned by one company (Hoffmann Family of Companies) — that the commonly-owned ferry companies would threaten to weaponize access to Mackinac Island through their complete control of that access in order to get what they want: to continue to operate without actual regulation of their rates,” she wrote. “These letters make it clear that these fears were well-founded. Hoffmann is using its monopoly power as a coercive tool to ‘negotiate’ a new contract on terms that Hoffmann, and only Hoffmann, finds reasonable.”
Mark Magyar, an attorney for the ferry companies, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.
Evashevski said the ferries’ statement about the city refusing to enter into “good faith negotiations” for a new franchise agreement is nothing more than a red herring.
She said the city has been involved in settlement negotiations since the ferry companies filed a lawsuit against the city in early 2025. She said that to date the negotiations have been confidential.
“The City has always been, and remains willing to resolve this issue, but not through such coercion, and certainly not to the detriment of the residents, businesses, visitors and general public,” she wrote. “The City will not be threatened, through lawsuits and the wielding of monopoly power, into giving into the Hoffmann’s unreasonable demands. The ferries now want to litigate the settlement negotiations in the public domain without actually showing their settlement proposal. If the ferries want to blame the City for failing to negotiate, the ferries should release their previous settlement proposal terms to the public, and the City will do the same, so the public can see which party is preventing negotiations on rates and fares that are fair and reasonable to the City’s residents, businesses, and visitors, as well as to the ferries’ owners.”
The dispute stems from Hoffmann Family’s purchase of Shepler’s Ferry in 2022, followed by its acquisition of Mackinac Island Ferry Co. and its Star Line jets in 2024, later rebranded to Arnold Transit Co. The city has argued that these acquisitions eliminated competition in ferry transportation and long-term parking for visitors, according to court documents.
More than 1 million tourists visit the island each summer, according to officials.
Shepler’s Inc. filed a complaint in early 2025 alleging the city had overstepped its authority in regulating the company’s fares and schedules for ferries as well as its prices for parking and business operations. The city of Mackinac Island filed a countersuit with multiple claims, asserting it has the right to regulate parking and fare fees and claiming that the companies’ common ownership was anti-competitive.
The letters from the ferry companies follow an order April 20 from a federal judge who encouraged both sides to work toward a new agreement before the contracts expire in 2027, warning that ferry service could be disrupted and hurt both sides.
“So, unless the Ferry Companies are willing to walk away from the Island altogether and the City is willing to start some other passenger transportation system from scratch — both of which seem unlikely — the parties should spend less time and money fighting over the last two seasons of the 15-year franchise,” the order read.
Meanwhile, the ferries resumed service on April 24 for the 2026 season.
cwilliams@detroitnews.com
@CWilliams_DN
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Mackinac Island ferries warn of service halt in 2027 amid dispute
Reporting by Candice Williams, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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